Lawyers receiving sanctions from their state bar can expect to receive a written court order. In a disciplinary action filed by The Florida Bar and approved by the Supreme Court of Florida on December 11, 2025, serving the order would have required delivering it via séance.
Miami-Dade attorney Emelike Nwosuocha continues to receive fines and suspensions for his disciplinary case from the Florida Bar after ignoring a court order to pay attorney’s fees to the opposing counsel in a dismissed 2019 civil suit. This is despite the fact that he passed away in July 2024, which may explain why he failed to respond to the ensuing required notification affidavits.
If still with us on this mortal coil, the three-year suspension of Nwosuocha by the state Supreme Court would serve as a public reprimand. He’d be required to alert his clients, other counsel, and all federal and state bar associations that he belonged to of his sanctioning, and provide a sworn affidavit listing all notifications to The Florida Bar within 30 days. It’s unknown whether the same is required in the afterlife.
The Results of Tempting Contempt
As in other states, The Florida Bar administers the bar exam to prospective attorneys, handles the reinstatement of disbarred lawyers, and addresses disciplinary issues of legal professionals. This includes tribunals that can suspend attorneys from the practice of law for a specified period or, in extreme cases, permanently.
Nwosuocha filed a medical negligence lawsuit in a South Florida court on behalf of one of his clients. After it was dismissed with prejudice in 2019, Nwosuocha was ordered by the trial court to pay more than $5,000 in attorney’s fees to the opposing counsel. Both the awarding of fees and the dismissal were upheld by the Third District Court of Appeal.
Unable to collect the owed money, the defendant in the case filed a grievance with the Florida Bar in August 2021. After Nwosuocha still didn’t provide relief, a default judgment for the Florida Bar was granted by Judge William Altfield on February 10, 2023. Nwosuocha's somewhat tardy response that his case had not been frivolous and that he didn’t understand why he was expected to pay attorney’s fees met with a frosty response. A six-month suspension from practicing law followed in August 2023. Nwosuocha had a month to provide his delinquent affidavit and pay the outstanding fees.
He did neither. This prompted the Florida Bar to file a petition for contempt in April 2024, requesting a one-year suspension of Nwosuocha’s license to practice law. Nwosuocha responded to this order to show cause, claiming that he’d been unable to make contact with some of the necessary people and that the suspension of his legal credentials made it impossible for him to earn income as an attorney. However, his response was stricken for being filed too late.
Do We Need To Hire a Medium?
As a result, Nwosuocha received a one-year suspension on June 18, 2024. He was required to respond to the notification affidavit on July 17, but failed to do so. This resulted in the Florida Bar sending notification of his noncompliance with the rules of his suspension on October 11 of that year, but by that point, there was no chance of receiving a response. Nwosuocha died of a heart attack on July 21, 2024.
Even death was not enough to halt the sanctions. The Florida Bar petitioned the court again in October 2025, seeking to hold Nwosuocha in contempt again. It requested a three-year suspension for lack of compliance, a fine of $1,250 in court costs, and the submission of the missing affidavit before any reinstatement could be considered. In further proof that better lines of communication should be a high priority in Florida, the state Supreme Court approved the sanctions against Nwosuocha, who had been deceased for almost a year and a half at that point, on December 11, 2025.
Related Resources
- Where Can I File a Complaint Against My Lawyer? (FindLaw’s Choosing the Right Attorney)
- Lawyer Claims Ignorance Over 7-Year-Old Suspension, Loses (FindLaw’s Practice of Law)
- Attorneys and Fees (FindLaw’s Filing a Lawsuit)
